Coffee
by Pxi
Summary: "Do you want her installed in your office?" In which a gleeful Temari is delighted to know her brother has hormones and Gaara is confused as to why his sister called a coffeemaker a 'her.' Post-war


**Unfortunately, due to unavoidable circumstances, involving a broken tablet and a stupid computer, I could not update my other stories. No really, I couldn't connect to the internet from anywhere else other than my phone.**

**I still can't.**

**Luckily, I finally found out how to upload via the mobile phone. Till now, I had no idea how to access the normal site. :P**

**Yes, pretty silly of me.**

**Besides that, I had been expecting to get a normal, functioning laptop/tablet/anything, which is why I did not bother much about uploading and just kept on writing. I only started trying after I realized I'm not getting normal, functioning laptop/tablet/anything anytime soon. **

**And this is just one of the stories I wrote because I got SO BORED and so might not make sense. **

**Hope you enjoy! :D**

**Disclaimer: Alex does not own Naruto or the internet. **

**Post-war. Slight OOCness might be experienced. Depends on how you picture them ;**

* * *

**Coffee**

* * *

Enduring a tirade of nagging elders, proud declarations and assertion of personal knowledge atop blatant disagreements no matter what his proposition was, in the wake of what felt akin to an endless night owing to his renowned case of insomnia was definitely not a healthy combination. In retrospect, it was astounding that the elders were still alive after the torturous weekly meeting.

Willing the umpteenth onslaught of pain away, the young Kazekage pinched the bridge of his nose a moment before he let his hand move over to his temples. His gaze lacked its typical apathy, substituted by disdain as he eyed the mountain of papers that were yet to be done.

In his mind there was not a speck of doubt as to what he wanted- no, _needed_ the most at present.

In spite of the unwavering headache that strained him both mentally and physically, his dexterous senses were swift to pick up the sound of the approaching footsteps; Ah, his needs were going to be answered soon enough.

A polite knock and a low-toned permission to enter later, the heavy wooden door slowly swung open, revealing the young woman behind. Her viridian eyes, betraying the show of respect, were filled with mirth as it met the red-headed man's coal-rimmed ones, the smile playing on round rosy-lips teasing as she stalked over to his desk with quick agile movements.

"Kazekage-same," She greeted in-line with her illustration of courtesy, "Your coffee."

Disregarded the obvious smirk and the underlying tone of mockery in her otherwise angelic voice, Gaara accepted the drink with a nod of acknowledgement.

Having received her unarticulated thank you, Sakura waited for another nod, the one for dismissal before she exited the room her fragrance, one of a white lily and musk combined with, oddly enough, cocoa, lingering even long after she had left.

For the over-wrought kage though, the heavenlier of the aroma was the one that hovered around his nose, coming from the white little ceramic mug in his hands, the idyllic drink that he sipped ever so slowly, his senses savoring both the flavor and odor.

He was purposely ignorant of the jovial gaze his sister, who sat at a side, had on him, blissfully unaware of the source of her happiness and how it had a direct link to him. As long as he had his coffee, that mattered not.

Or so he had assumed.

* * *

It was a matter of general perception that mostly depended on the sentiments of the public members towards her, whether or not her days on mission in the scorching-hot by day and breath-freezing cold by night capital of the Wind Country were time-wasted, or days that were being written down in history.

For Haruno Sakura, protégé of a grand Sannin, though, none of her efforts were gone into the mighty namesake winds that blew through the country. The ever-familiar green glow that adorned her pale hands more often than not, were not just for a measly decorative purpose neither was it just a ruse to hush the little children brought into the emergency room.

It was a glow that pulled the threads to which the nearly-dead clung on to, back to the realm of the living.

Certainly, saving an innocent and pure life can never be considered a fruitless effort?

Whether it was that or not, the pastel pink-haired doctor was sure of one thing; it was certainly a tiring effort. So tiring that it had been the sole purpose that she went against the democratic structure of the hospital and had the coffee machine installed near all of her workplaces against the will of practically the whole staff- kazekage included.

In what soon churned out to be a destructive (on her part, mostly) ego clash- two training grounds were utterly ruined- Sakura took victory. Had she known that it was only a matter of letting him get a good taste of the beverage, she surely wouldn't have wasted her breath on challenging him to spars after she could no longer tolerate being rejected each time she asked for a simple coffeemaker.

Of course, part of that statement would have to be retracted and struck out since the young Kage was rather more diplomatic in his refusal than egotistical. As Sakura listened with utmost disbelief later, people of Suna had an interesting love-hate relationship with… coffee. Love for the drink itself and envy powered hatred for the origin, Iwagakure.

And as ridiculous as the jealousy fuelled "hatred" was, Sakura tried not to laugh. Alas, tried was a keyword there.

Her laughter bubbled through her system like Naruto on a sugar-rush, uncontrollably, when she first heard the story. She should have known better than to take a sip of the coffee just as it seemed that her laughter had died down because the urge was soon to come back and it took the coffee with it.

The elders' faces, when the drink spurted out of her mouth and nose onto their white clean robes, were priceless.

Then on, her irrepressible bout of giggles whenever she saw the coffee machine did not spare her well.

She supposed she seemed like an idiot, laughing out of the blue for no apparent reason, but life had brought her to a point in time where she no longer cared about what others thought. It is as Kakashi-sensei had said; the war had changed them all.

However, it was completely another story to be caught by the kazekage while you're laughing with nothing but a coffeemaker and a plant pot around you.

She would have sacrificed a cat in the name of Rock Lee to get a chance to clarify her mental well-being to him _and _to let him have nothing to mock her about- yes, he did mock. Just very, very discreetly so.

Sadly, she was on the hospital's ground floor, and he, five stories above in his office, in another building.

"Perfect," Sakura muttered under her breath.

Following an involuntary stare-off, Gaara moved away whilst Sakura kept staring at the window, unable to shrug off the feeling of awkwardness.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw sandy blonde and knew Temari had arrived with the latest documents. When the young medic finally turned towards the blonde, there was absolutely no inkling of the gleeful smile that had been etched across Temari's face not long ago.

* * *

"Gaara, you're staring out of the window again," Temari remarked with a grin, placing the new pile of papers that she had gotten from the hospital, on her brother's desk and sauntering over to the empty spot beside him.

"Hn," was her brother's non-committal reply, his eyes locked on what was below. He was somewhat aware of her following her gaze and breaking out into a wide grin.

"You keep staring. Shall I have her installed in your office?" she grinned even wider, "or better yet, in your bedroom?"

"Ah," Gaara said after a while of contemplative silence, "The bedroom will do."

Both siblings continued to observe what was below, Temari, elated that her brother finally confessed his feelings for the charismatic pink-haired medic-nin below, and Gaara, wondering why his sister referred to an object, much less a coffee making machine, something she still despised, as _she. _

He felt rather wary.

* * *

Kankuro guffawed, his hands holding onto his sides. Standing beside him, Gaara watched, equally amused by the state of the man who had a split second ago, tried to harass Haruno. Evidently, the poor man had been new in town. That or he would have to be retarded to actually try and kiss the pink-haired woman with the short fuse.

The memory of what the damage she was capable of inflicting was too fresh in town for the man to be neither out of his mind, nor new. Last time someone had tried to toy with her, he ended up being thrown all the way across the village. Through dozens of buildings.

Kankuro remembered it all too well.

"Oh, ah, damn it," he said, his laughter seeming to subside at last, "That woman- someone needs to put her in her place."

Though it had been said mostly as a joke, Gaara caught a hint of a tone that told him there was more, "Are you… holding a grudge against Haruno-san?"

His brother snorted, plopping himself onto a chair across the Kazekage's, "You would too if she landed you in the next century. I mean c'mon, men, real men don't like getting their egos bruised you know."

Gaara had a contradictory notion on that matter, something that he preferred to keep to himself for the sake of what remained of his brother's pride.

Just as both brothers had envisaged, an evidently angry knock was soon followed by an even more ruffled woman in a doctor's coat. She growled, looking straight into Gaara's coal-rimmed eyes "I know you saw that."

"The nerve." Both ignored Kankuro's disbelieving mutter.

"That guy! He- urhg. That son of- hmph," Gaara eyed her, amused by her inability to finish one coherent sentence. "Just because I made one sandwich for him- one, only one- for him, it suddenly became his right to sexually harass me! No one has the right to even _think _of kissing me like that! If he does that again, Kazekage-sama, if…"

Having lived with a sister who could nag hours on end, and worked with elders who were far worse off in the department, it was easy for the Kazekage to tune out on the rest of what she said. As long as her request was heeded, which it would be, the twenty-three year old saw no harm in the act.

When Sakura, apparently having ridden of the temper and regained her composure, left the office, Kankuro waited till he heard the last of the foot-steps before giving his brother a look that Gaara translated as, "I told you so."

Gaara supposed his brother was referring to him feeling deterred by the obvious lack of respect in her treatment towards him; Gaara could only hold back a smirk in response. Wounded ego was a story far off, the red-head only felt entertained.

For him, Haruno was an oblivious court jester with a fiery temper and a coffee mug in her hand.

* * *

Head resting atop his shoulders, Temari gave a low contended sigh, her hand locked in his. Her partner gave her a wary sideward gland, wondering what new inanity had cooked up to please her so much that his normally casual girlfriend had become so… cuddly. Not that he minded, but his laziness dreaded any action that was to come.

But destiny seemed to be on his side and he could never have been more thankful to Kami for a drunken Lee. Had they not been a day late in their arrival to Suna, he would have certainly been part of his lover's match-making shenanigans.

As if home was not bad enough.

Could haves and would haves aside, he still worried.

Temari, like any other of the female species, was apparently never wrong in her judgments and she was not one to jump to hasty conclusions. Perhaps it was because her new muse included her thought to be asexual brother, but this time Shikamaru could not help but question how hard she hit her head during their last spar.

"Oh, don't look at me like that! I'm _positive _this will work out! I'm supposing that look means you want proof? Well, I'll give you proof! So listen; I heard, actually heard with my own two ears, Sakura call Gaara _perfect_! And when I went to Gaara's office…"

Shikamaru listened with feigned boredom, his eyes on the clouds, and his mind working on putting the too much unlikely pair in one picture. It was a feat easier said than accomplished.

Temari, however, seemed to have it all figured out, including the name of her little nieces and nephews.

"Both of them are too shy to admit it- well, Sakura definitely is and Gaara probably ignores the sparks that are so there between them. So here is what we'll do. We'll…"

_First, get rid of any possible distractions. _

"Hey Kankuro," Temari shook her brother, "Kankuro! Wake up."

Said brother growled and drawled out, "Shut up Temari, I've already eaten them."

"Eaten what?"

"The cats." She ought to have done it earlier, but she did not want be held responsible for breaking her brother's fragile head into pieces in his own bedroom. But it had to be done- she kicked him off the bed. "What the hell, you witch!"

She eyed his innocently, "Can you go buy me some groceries?"

"… Can't you do that yourself?"Her brother cried out incredulously, obviously displeased by the little commotion.

"Shika-kun is here," Temari replied adding an extra tone of saccharine to her voice.

"So?"

Temari feigned a blush, looking down at the ground. His brown eyes widened, and widened yet further when his sister's face turned shades darker, "Oh... hell… no! Gimme that list and don't expect me back!"

_Second, begin the main phase. Place female specimen in male specimen's room. _

"Anno, Temari-chan," Sakura mumbled quietly, near failing to keep suspicion out of her voice, "Are you sure this is your room?"

The sandy-blonde haired sometimes-scary kunoichi rolled her eyes, biting back a little smirk, all the same feeling unsure whether she could pull this off as easily as she had envisioned. Her friend, like her, was a kunoichi, and a rather admirable one at that. The small minuscule details would not go missed by her.

Said kunoichi, on the other hand, was barely balancing herself on a pole, suspicion tugging her to one side and the trust she had to have in Temari to the other. The room was dark; the moonlit sky casting a mauve glow on the otherwise cream paint walls and dark brown floor. It was a far cry from the room Temari lived in before.

The lingering order in the room was far from feminine and that bothered her more. Especially since the scent was ever so familiar.

But it was not as though Sakura could just question, "Say Temari-chan, why does the room smell like your brother?" Not only would she be possibly labeled a person-sniffer, but the likelihood of Temari's match-making brain linking her up with the red-head was not far off.

"Yes this is my room," Temari replied taking Sakura's bag of necessities from her and placing it near the bed.

"Isn't it… a bit too dark?" Sakura asked, fiddling with her thumb, a feeling of apprehension shaking her body.

"Oh that," Temari said with a grin, "This used to be Gaara's room. He switched to the left wing some time back, something about being closer to the gates and security issues he said."

"Speaking of Gaara-" Temari paused, anticipation knocking in as she began to put her plan into action, "Ah, that reminds me, I have to report something to the Kazekage- Sorry, Sakura-chan, but do you suppose you could wait a bit?"

"Yeah…sure," Sakura replied and then pursed her lip, her eyes following Temari out of the room that, despite the blonde's explanation did not seem like hers. It would not be like of Gaara to enter his siblings' threshold if he could help it. Yet there it was, traces of Gaara's ever familiar chakra, disturbing her senses.

Despite her qualms, the long day finally got to her; she dozed off, her head resting on the bed that she knelt against.

* * *

From the moment he stepped foot inside his room, he sensed that something was wrong. His adroit sensed quickly picked up the foreign chakra that certainly did not belong in his room, and just as quickly spotted the source of the chakra, sleeping on _his _bed.

Well, sort of.

Her head was on it and as far as he was concerned, that counted. In fact, as far as he was concerned, even if it had been just the tip of her fingers inside his room, it would have been counted as sleeping on his bed, which, at moment, was equivalent to a very vexing popping of his space bubble.

His eyes twitched as he stood in the middle of his room, glaring at the intruder.

It was not that he did not like the pink-haired kunoichi, in fact, what he felt for her was a high-level of respect and genuine liking for her personality, bordering on a feeling that he dared not explore or give a hint of care to. But that did not simply excuse her for her very, very, and let's say it again, very exasperating leap into his personal space.

She had done it once before and the confusion that he had been left in was not something he hoped to endure again.

That time, he had simply shrugged it off, knowing it was only an accident and if anyone was to take the blame, it would have had to be divided out between the two. After all, their only motive had been to spar and neither had a clue that close-ranged combat could lead to compromising situations and positions.

This time though, it was blatant that no missteps or accidents were involved. How could anyone _accidentally _walk into his room and _accidentally _fall asleep on his bed?

His mind reeled, his mind furiously working on wondering where he had gone wrong in judging the female kunoichi. She had nerve, that much was true, but all the same she was diplomatic and it would be out of character for to tread into another's comfort zone even if his reckless siblings actually dared her up to it which he knew his reckless siblings would not.

And yet, here she was, the unmasked chakra that oozed from her, leaving no doubt of that.

And what was yet more puzzling and unnerving to him was the fact that she was in _his _room. Even his siblings thought twice before doing so, especially when they knew he would be there. He did not pride himself for it, not much anyway, but he was intimidating and not one to be messed around with. And till that day, he had the notion that Sakura viewed him as nothing different.

Sure she had the gall to argue with him and challenge him to spars, but he merely blamed that on her adrenalin fuelled anger and the close bond that they had come to share over time. He had been pretty sure that there were boundaries that even she would not cross.

_That woman- someone needs to put her in her place._

Kankuro's words from earlier echoed in his brain, and for the first time, Gaara learnt how it felt to have his male ego messed with.

But seriously, what gave her so much courage? And dare he say shamelessness?

She was sleeping on his bed, clearly, purposely treading on his privacy, something he only expected from fan-girls.

And Haruno was no fangirl. That part of her persona had been dropped and buried fifty feet beneath the ground ages ago.

At least fangirls had feelings for him- that gave them the courage. And most of the time, they seemed to have a blind belief he was reciprocating, adding to the courage a bit more.

The young Kage was positive Sakura did not have either excuses…

His eyes widened, his mind taking a quick trip back down memory lane, back to the time of their spar which had the ultimate consequence of him palpably ignoring her for the next few days to come.

Suppose she had actually, correctly interpreted that ignoring session, in which case if he supposed that the confusing plethora of emotions that haunted him after the incident were actually emotions of li-_like_; then… she had the latter of the two fan-girl reasons. Except that perhaps, just perhaps, it was not a blind belief; he had yet to sort that out.

Did that mean she was teasing him?

Gaara, looked at the pink-haired girl, his involuntary eyes taking in her soft features. He shook his head, rubbing his temples.

_No, she won't. Not like this… unless…_

His coal-rimmed turquoise eyes widened and he hesitantly listened to the little voice at back of his head.

_That woman- someone needs to put her in her place._

And more importantly, he had to know; did he… did he like her? And even more importantly, were the feelings mutual?

The thirst for repairing his wounded ego and a need for answers over-whelming him; he unclasped his gourd and jacket, and put them aside, slowly making his way over to his person of interest.

* * *

It was a claustrophobic feeling that woke her up. Her eyes fluttered open, an unwilling groan escaping her dry pink lips. She licked them, and then protruded them into an angry pout. She opened her mouth, preparing to complain about Temari's lateness.

She stopped halfway, her emerald green eyes widening into the size of saucers, her jaws dropping.

Her brain went haywire.

"Wrong sibling alert! Wrong sibling alert. I repeat, wrong sibling alert. All senses report to panic station!"

On the outside, she remained frozen before noticing the proximity. Hesitantly and clumsily, she backed away. That only made things worse since he only closed in more, now closer than before.

Trapped between the bed, the wall and his arm that rested against her sides, she gulped, her mind trying to comprehend what and why Gaara was doing what he was doing.

The answer to why was not found, but his intentions, they seemed clear enough and only before more palpable by the second as his handsome face inched in closer. Sakura cursed her better senses for losing against her intuition before she leaned in, completing the deal.

Ah, no, no kiss. Just a hug.

* * *

Their relationship status remained questionable till her next official trip to the mighty Wind's capital city as the Hokage's assistant. Surprisingly, it was Naruto who picked up on the sparks, Temari being too disappointed in the apparent result to care.

After much prodding and poking, the answer was obtained which had consequences as such.

Temari cried of joy.

Shikamaru was impressed.

Kankuro cried to the heavens for mercy.

The youthful Hokage gave her great big bear hug, joking about how he will now remain forever alone.

_Joke_- he was married.

When the news reached home, Ino, quickly ran to the shop to buy new clothes, dragging Tenten and Hinata with her.

Sasuke was unsure of what to make of it.

And in general, the whole ninja world was surprised that Gaara was not asexual.

**And now, I shall get to continuing my other stories~ **


End file.
